Slumdog Millionaire leads British charge at US movie awards

Slumdog Millionaire, the Hollywood movie about a Mumbai orphan on Who Wants to
be a Millionaire, played by an unknown British actor, has won five US
Critics' choice Awards.

Dev Patel, left, and Anil Kapoor are shown in a scene from 'Slumdog Millionaire'Photo: AP

By Andrew Pierce

4:30PM GMT 09 Jan 2009

London born Dev Patel, 18, whose success on the Hindi version of the quiz show turns him into a national sensation in India, is now one of the favourites for the Oscar.

Slumdog Millionaire, which won best film, best director for Danny Boyle, and best writer, has been nominated for four Golden Globes this weekend.

The Critics Choice Awards, organised by the Broadcast Film Critics' Association, are one of the most reliable predictors of Oscar success. In the last 10 years, they have foreshadowed both the best picture and director Oscar winners 70 per cent of the time. Their success rate is 60 per cent for best actor and actress.

Mr Patel, who lives with his family in Harrow, had no formal acting training when he was cast in the film which opens in Britain On Friday. Mr Patel, who in the film is one question away from the £1 million prize when he is accused of cheating, said: "My mum is still nagging me to make my bed. My sister and I annoy each other. It's just when I go to work I get treated as an adult."

The film is based in Mumbai where almost 200 people were killed in a terrorist outrage last month. Freida Pinto, who plays the love interest of the 18-year-old British actor, said: "It will be a huge morale boost for Mumbai."

There was more British success when Kate Winslet won best supporting actress for her role as a concentration camp guard in The Reader. Miss Winslet, nominated five times for an Oscar, is one of the favourites for the Golden Globe.

Heath Ledger, who died of an overdose in New York last January, received a posthumous standing ovation after being named best supporting actor for playing the Joker in The Dark Night.

Best actor went to Sean Penn for the campaigning gay activist Harvey Milk in the film, Milk. Penn is the strong favourite to lift the Oscar. he said Milk would have been his choice to play the role. "He had the charisma that an actor can only aspire to."

Slumdog Millionaire also picked up awards for best composer, AR Rahman, and best writer, Simon Beaufoy.

Brad Pitt, whose film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button had eight nominations, ended the night with nothing.

All attention will now switch to the Golden Globes in Los Angeles tomorrow. Last year was a spartan ceremony as Hollywood had been crippled by a screen writers' strike.

But with the United Stated embroiled in deep recession the luminous lustre of the ceremony has been restored with even the sets sprayed gold.

With 90 Hollywood A-listers pledged as guests there will be no shortage weaving their way up the red carpet.

Orly Adelson, president of Dick Clark Productions, which produces the televised show, said: "The Globes offer a moment of respite [from recession] so people out there can sit for a moment and have a really wonderful evening and forget about everything. We are giving three hours of entertainment (where they can) have a nice evening."

She said the set had been revamped with more silver and gold to "reflect the glamour of Hollywood" but also communicate a message of hope that "it will be OK", Ms Adelson said.

Mama Mia!, which has become the most successful film ever at the British box office, is nominated for best musical or comedy.